I think this means that McLaren and Ferrari have officially (behind the scenes that is) locked in both positions, as he was apparently holding out on a Lotus deal in case a top drive came through. It seems like somebody had him set as a plan B (C?) reserve, but I don’t know who that could have been.

My first memory is simply that the black/gold cars were my favorites. This must have been the last year that the original Lotus had the JPS livery so… 1986? That makes me 4/5 years old.
Funny enough, after that the yellow cars were my favorites, not realizing this was the same team. I was apparently a Senna fan at a young age.

Other memories are Berger lapping in a Ferrari with a shredded rear tire, Minardis and Dallaras qualifying far up the grid because of tires and getting in the way early in the race and Murray Walker commenting “and now Patrese is though!” Boutsen winning in the rain. Alesi fighting at the front in a Tyrrell. From then on I followed F1 closely remember most races.

So….. I really wanted to watch this. But it turns out that not only do I have to pay to watch F1 in the Netherlands, I have to buy a second, separate package from a different company to watch Formula E.
What a way to build a fanbase guys, way to go. R.I.P. Formula E.

I’ve actually been very impressed by Vergne lately. I was never a big fan of him (just neutral) but I’m really glad that he didn’t go into full-time sulk-mode after missing out on the RB seat (I know many drivers who would have coped less well). He has simply kept his chin up and has driven hard. We know he got beaten by Ricciardo quite often in their stint together but Vergne did frequently outrace him on Sunday. This year he’s been in the top 10 most of the time, and I don’t think he gets enough credit for it. If I was in charge at RB (armchair guru here) and Vettel jumped ship I’d give Vergne a shot first and keep Kvyat (who’s doing an awesome job) marinading at TR for a little longer. Anyway, in order of likelihood at the present moment:

1. Bottas – the Williams is potentially so fast, when do they string a perfect weekend together?
2. Hulkenberg – obviously ready, but I feel like it’ll take a bold strategy and controlling race to get it done.
3. Perez – bit of a loose canon, but is often surprisingly amongst the frontrunners
4. Vergne – I can’t imagine Toro Rosso winning this year, but he could probably do it.
5. Magnussen – Maybe not quite ready and McLaren is blowing hot and cold and more often cold.
6. Grosjean – talent wasted at Lotus. They we’re saying big teams were sniffing around, but I’ve no clue who that could be.
7. Kvyat – Not yet. I have faith though.
the rest less than 1 percent chance.

During winter testing. Lotus this year comes to mind. In theory they could have been realistic title contenders this year, but after losing so much personnel the writing was sort of on the wall. Their boastfulness during the winter kept many F1 fans believing (Maldonado not withstanding) that they might just pull it off this year, but once the car was (finally) on track it was clear that it was all over.